Furniture construction



Aug. 16, 1949. SILVERMAN 2,479,086

FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 20, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 19 us a Fig. 5

lNVENTdR Is ador Silverman ATTORNEY Aug. 16, 1949. 1. SILVERMAN 2,479,086

FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 20, '1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Is ador SiLv-e r man ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 16, 1949 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Isador Silverman, Cleveland, Ohio Application October 20, 1947-, Serial- No. 780,835 '5 Claims. (01. me -196) n ion. relates to articles of furniture and particularly to chairs, manufactured from interfitting pieces of rigid sheet material.

Oneof the OblfiCtSQf, this. invention is to. provide various articles of. furniture constructed from slotted members that; are, easily assembled and disassembled and yet; which, have great strength and rigidity.

Another objecti to provide articles of furniture that maybe i expensively'manufactured mass production methods.

still another object. is to provide articles of furniture composed of parts that occupy a small space when disassembled so that the expense of s pp n is ma e a l reduced.

Further obj ctdand advantages will become apparent from the following. description and on examination of the accompanying drawing in which lik numerals; refer to, like parts.

In'the drawing:

Fig. 1- is a perspective drawing of-a chair built according to the invention;

Fig. 2; is anelevation of one of the; chair sup.- porting members;

Fig. 3. is an elevation the chair;

Fig. 4 isa plan view of the seat of the chair;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line indicated at 5+5, in Fig. 1 showing how the side member and seat. member interfit;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation'viewed as indicated atfi5. in. Fig. lshowing howthe back member and seat member interfit;

Fig. 7' is asection taken on the line indicated at l' -l,yin Fig. 6 and showing the juncture 01- the seat and back member;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a slightly modified construction in which the chair has a curved back; and

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section taken on the line indicated at 99 in Fig. 8.

Furniture embodying this invention can be made in several forms or designs and is designed to provide attractive pieces of furniture that are relatively inexpensive and suitable for use in the home and oflice and especially suitable for use in summer cottages and the like.

In the accompanying drawings a chair embodying the invention is shown which is made in four parts, namely, two supporting members I such as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, a back member 2 such as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and a seat member 3 such as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The supporting members i are identical, and each has a top edge 4, and

of. the back member. of

front and rear side edges 5 and d thatv are preferably disposed at a slight inclination to the vertical andwhich diverge downwardly to provide a supporting base somewhat wider than the top thereof.

The under sides of the supporting members i are preferably provided with recesses 7 that taper upwardly to provide downwardly tapering supporting legs 8. Each supporting member i has an elongated slot 9 extending rearwardly from its front edge 5 a short distance below the top edge l. The slot 9 serves to position the seat member 3 and may be horizontal or at a slight inclination to the horizontal. Each of the supporting members i has an elongated slot it! extending downwardly from a top edge d near the rear end thereof. he slots is of the supporting members serve to position the back member 2 and are preferably positioned at: a slight inclination to the vertical to provide a slight rearward slant to the back member 2.

The back member 2 is substantially U-shaped 211161 provided with downwardly extending legs I l which are provided at their lower ends with upwardly extending elongated slots E2. The legs H of the back member 2 fit in the downwardly extending slots I 0 of the supporting members andthe upwardly extending slots iii of the legs ll receive portions of the supporting members below the lower end of the slots It. The legs I l of the back member 2 have a close fit in the slots ill of the supporting members i so that the supporting members hold the back members in a fixed position with respect to the supporting members, and the; slots I2; receive the portions of the supporting member 2. with which they engage with a close fit so that the supporting members are held against lateral movements with respect to the back member.

The inner edges of the legs H are provided with recesses l3 that are in horizontal alinement with each other, and with recesses M in their front faces that are in horizontal alinement with the recesses l3. When the back member 2 is interfitted with the supporting members I, with the ends of the slots l0 and I2 in engagement, the recesses I3 and I4 are in alinement with the slots 9 of the supporting member.

As shown in Fig. 4, the seat member 3 has elongated slots is extending forwardly from its rear edge and substantially parallel to the side edges of the seat member to provide outer retaining portions. The seat member 3 is provided with recessed seats l8 at the rear corners thereof to receive the legs I l of the back member 2. The

recessed seats 18 provide a tongue I!) between them at the rear edge of the seat member that is adapted to fit in recesses 13 of the legs H and portions of the rear edge at opposite sides of the tongue 19 fit in the recesses 14 with the seats l8 bearing against the bottoms of the recesses M.

The seat member 3 by its engagement with the recesses 13 and M of the back member, serves to lock the back member against movement with respect to the supporting members I, so that the parts of the chair are firmly held in assembled relation. The portions of the supporting members i projecting above the seat member 3 provide a channel in which a suitable cushion 20 may be placed if desired.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 7 of the drawings, the chair parts are fiat and of uniform thickness. The back, however, if desired may be curved above its seat engaging portion, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, wherein the back member 2a is shaped to provide a concave back.

The furniture pieces described are preferably made of plywood stained, painted, or varnished as desired. In addition to wood, cardboard, paperboard, sheet plastic or metallic sheet can be employed to make articles of furniture of this construction.

After assembly, the interfitted slotted members can if desired be glued, nailed, or doweled together. If the members are formed of metallic sheets the members can be welded or brazed after assembly. If the members are formed of a plastic they may be permanently joined with a cement suitable for the particular plastic. It is not however essential that the members be permanently secured together.

The knockdown construction is advantageous because, when disassembled, the pieces fit into a compact flat package which is easily stored or shipped and not readily damaged.

The construction of the present invention can also be used in manufacturing miniature pieces of furniture for childrens toys. Small chairs and sofas can be made which are inexpensive, which are easily assembled and disassembled by children.

It will be understood that numerous modifications of the construction herein shown may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

An article of manufacture comprising laterally spaced upright supporting members, each extending rearwardly from its front edge adjacent the top thereof and an elongated slot extending downwardly from its top edge near the rear end thereof, a back member having lower end portions fitting in said downwardly extending slots of the supporting members and provided with upwardly extending slots to receive portions of the supporting members below the downwardly extending slots thereof, said back member having recessed portions alined with said rearwardly extending slots when the back and supporting members are interfitted with the ends of their upwardly and downwardly extending slots in engagement, and a seat member having elongated slots extending forwardly from its rear edge to receive portions of the supporting member to the rear of their rearwardly extending slots and portions forwardly of the said slots that fit in the rearwardly extending slots of the supporting members, said seat member having rear edge portions engaging in said recessed portions of said back members to lock said back member against vertical movement with respect to the supporting members.

2. An article of furniture such as defined in claim 1 in which the said supporting members, back member and seat member are each formed of sheet material and are of uniform thickness.

3. An article of furniture such as defined in claim 2 in which said supporting members each have an upwardly tapering recess forming downwardly tapering front and rear legs.

4. An article of manufacture such as defined in claim 1 in which said back member is in the form of an inverted U and provided with downwardly extending legs and said seat member has rear corner portions recessed to receive the legs of said back member, said legs having recesses to receive portions of the rear edge of the seat member disposed between said recessed corner portions.

5. An article of manufacture such as defined in claim 4 in which the legs of the back member have recesses in their front faces to receive portions of rear edge of the seat member disposed outwardly of the slots of the seat member.

ISADOR SILVERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,559,111 Lees Oct. 27, 1925 1,735,851 Burton Nov. 19, 1929 1,747,900 Jenny Feb. 18, 1930 

